India's ambassador to the U.S., Meera Shankar, 60, was selected for a pat-down Saturday by a Transportation Security Administration screener.

By Elizabeth Crisp, USA TODAY

JACKSON, Miss.  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed concern Thursday over the pat-down of India's sari-clad ambassador to the U.S. at the airport here over the weekend, an incident that has prompted calls for an apology from Washington.

Clinton told reporters in Washington that the State Department was looking into the incident, but she didn't apologize. Ambassador Meera Shankar, 60, was selected for a pat-down Saturday by a Transportation Security Administration screener at Jackson-Evers International Airport.

Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna called the pat-down "unacceptable" and said his nation would complain to the U.S. government. This is the second time the ambassador had been singled out for a pat-down in the past three months, he said.

"We are going to take it up with the government of United States, and I hope that things could be resolved so that such unpleasant incidents do not recur," Krishna said.

Virander Paul, spokesman for India's Washington Embassy, said the State Department had "reached out to the ambassador and has regretted what happened."

Witnesses told The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson that Shankar was singled out of a group flying out of the airport for a thorough pat-down, despite having shown her diplomatic papers. She was told she was chosen because she was wearing a sari, a traditional Indian robe. The witnesses included an entourage from Mississippi State University, which hosted the visit.

Witnesses said Shankar asked for a private screening, but her search was conducted in a clear box.

"The way they pat them down — it was so humiliating," said Tan Tsai, a research associate at MSU who was with Shankar. "Anybody who passed by could see it."

The TSA maintained that it followed guidelines in the search of Shankar.

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